Just found out via the blog This is Beirut that Blog Baladi was one of the Lebanese blogs featured in Communicate Magazine. That’s pretty cool. [Link]

I, like most guys, love cars and driving and all, but i don’t know much about its mechanics nor do i pretend to know, unlike most Lebanese guys. Every time i have a certain problem with my car, i get like 20 different answers and half of them would include “Chou fahhamo el mechanicien! ana ba3rif”.

To make things worse, most mechanics in Lebanon are liars and want to rip you off somehow and companies are no better. You go to change your brakes and end up changing your tyres, cylinders and maybe chassis who knows??

On Tuesday, i had to remove a nail from one of my tyres. I stopped at a tyre place and once the guy was done, i asked him to check the car tyres pressure and make sure they are as recommended.

To find out what your car’s tyre pressure should be, consult the manufacturers tyre placard usually found inside the driver’s door sill, glove box, fuel filler cap or under the bonnet. The placard also displays the manufacturers recommended tyre sizes. [Bridgestone]

He answers me that i don’t need to check what the tyre manufacturer says as it’s common knowledge i should keep them as 30/30. I insisted that he does them as written down and he felt offended of course. I didn’t tip him of course because he was an ass.

After i was done, i went to my mechanic to check why my car is making squeaking sounds when turning the wheel or simply when driving sometimes. He answers me that my brakes are not good quality and should be changed.

One minor detail he forgot is that he was the one who changed my brakes five weeks ago!!!

After having stated that “minor” detail, he tells me he needs to take a closer look at it and after few minutes, tells me that it’s just a minor issue that will pass once i change my brakes. I just let go and went back home because unfortunatelly, he is better than most mechanics i’ve been to or been advised to go to and looking for a good mechanic in Lebanon is cumbersome and tiring.

Thank God my car doesn’t cause me that many problems.

Lebanese national Rami Chemali died Thursday at the age of 22 in a car crash in Cairo, the National News Agency (NNA) reported.

According to an eyewitness the accident occurred due to excessive speed. A car with 3 young people crashed into the car that was driven by Chemali, which resulted in the killing of Chemali and the 3 young Egyptians.

I don’t watch Star Academy, so i don’t know anything about him. The cause of the accident conflicted from one source to another. I heard first Rami was the one speeding and jumped from one side of the road to the other and hit the other car. Nonetheless, may he rest in peace.

Rami Chemali was from Shayle.

It looks like the most beautiful teams, not just the strongest teams are winning in the 2010 World Cup.

According to beautifulpeople.com, the Spanish team has the highest average beauty score (5.79), followed by the Dutch (5.52) and the Germans (5.15). [Full List]

The best-looking player turned out to be Fabio Cannavaro, while the ugliest player was England player Wayne Rooney. [Eurosport]

Finally, Paraguay might not have the most beautiful squad, but one of its supporters, Lingerie model Larissa Riquelme, has promised to run naked through the streets of Asuncion naked despite her team’s loss.

Maradona also promised to run naked in the streets of Bueno Aires if Argentina were to win the world cup, but who would want such an ugly sight?

For all those interested, No date has been set yet for Riquelme’s naked run.

Back in March, i posted about a Jeep who was parking in a no-parking spot in Achrafieh. Turns out our dear police love that spot as well.

This is not the first time police cars break the law, yet nothing is being done about it. It would be a great day for me and all the Lebanese when a police car gets a ticket for parking illegally.

I love the look on his face, he’s like super serious, like some kind of stalker. [YouTube]

I never really enjoy getting stuck in traffic, nor does anyone else i assume. But when the reason behind such traffic is the unloading of two Ferraris, the 458 Italia and the GTO then i wouldn’t mind waiting a few extra minutes.

This happened in Down Town Beirut in front of Ferrari’s office (Near Fiona’s restaurant for those familiar with the area).

It looks like Maxime Chaya has managed to inspire more Lebanese. Ralph Baz is only 22 and “is seeking climb the world’s highest mountain peak, the Everest (8,848 meters), next year to become the youngest Arab climber to reach the highest mountain top”. [Naharnet]

He already climbed Baruntse mountain in Nepal this past weekend and plans to climb Nepal’s Cho Oyu mountain next. He also has his own blog to update everyone on his journey. Too bad there are no pictures yet uploaded.

Nonetheless, good luck to this young man and i hope he does climb Everest next year!

Note: The youngest man to climb Everest is a 13 year old American. [Link]

I took a trip to Lebanon this past weekend and people… it was AMAZING! Lebanon is seriously booming… there was a zillion and one events and it felt depressing that I couldn’t go to all! It’s like taking a kid to a candy store and asking them to choose just ONE kind of candy. Anyways, that’s not the purpose of this post. I want to post about the airport (which I still refuse to call Rafic Harriri International Airport).

I arrived to Beirut on Wednesday night. Along with my plane, there were 2 other planes that arrived around the same time so it wasn’t busy. Passing through passport control was quite quick, so I was pleased. I got to baggage claim and to my surprise there weren’t any trolleys! I searched the entire baggage claim area and could not find trolleys. I asked one of the employees and he told me to check on the sides but that most probably they weren’t any left since there’s lots of incoming planes. I looked around and only saw that only passengers from one of the arrived planes were collecting their baggage.

What traffic?!

How can an airport that’s expecting over 2 million tourists in the next 2 months not have enough trolleys for more than 1 incoming plane?

I ended up paying someone to drag my bags for me which made me feel terrible! I don’t enjoy the fact of having someone dragging my 25+ kg bags around… especially since he was an old man.

While leaving last night, I stopped at Cafematik for a snack and to watch the Spain vs. Paraguay game. Unfortunately, they did not have the channel that airs the game. I then went to buy a wifi card so I can get online. The guy told me wifi connection has not been working at the airport for the past week.

Seriously?

I don’t mean to sound like a spoilt brat but I do not consider trolleys or wifi access at an airport, as busy as the Beirut Airport, to be optional items to add.

While having dinner at Napoletana in ABC Dbayyeh, a guy walked in wearing the Swastika symbol on his tshirt. If i were the manager, i would have definitly kicked him out of the restaurant. Surprisingly, he turned out to be friends with the manager who sat with him for a short while.

Ignorance is indeed a virtue.

After getting my boarding pass, I noticed a couple of self-service check-in machines right next to the counter. Since I had already checked in, I thought I’d just play around with one of them to see if it works, and it did…. I was shocked! This is a great improvement for business travelers. No more waiting in line behind the family of five with 15 suitcases!

I got a second boarding pass in less than 1 minute!!

The system is very user friendly. I just scanned my passport, input the first 3 letters of my destination and got a screen with my name, frequent flyer, flight and seat numbers. It gave me the option of choosing / changing my seat as well. Then it printed my boarding pass. Simple.

There are 16 airlines linked to the system so far.

The electronic boarding pass is printed on a thin paper. Nothing fancy, just the required information.

Good job Beirut Airport!

Since we are talking about Dora and its famous roundabout, there’s a shortcut to get to the maritime road if you missed the Bourj Hammoud entry coming from Beirut. Many people i know are not familiar with it, so i thought i mention it.

[Picture from Google Earth]

Whenever one refers to Dora, traffic and chaos come to one’s mind. I pass by Dora almost everyday and get stuck for at least 20 minutes just to go all the way around the famous Dora Roudabout.
Few days, i was again stuck in traffic when i noticed how huge this roundabout is. I mean seriously, its surface area is unbelievably huge compared to the tiny roads around it, and it occured to me:
Why don’t they cut down a bit of that roundabout and make more space for the cars?

Or even better, why don’t they cut a road in the middle of it for those heading towards Jounieh and leave the right lane for those heading inside Dora.

There are tons of stuff you can do with this roundabout, but the dumbest thing is to leave it as is.

This is really disturbing news and pretty much shows how much “wasta” plays its part in Lebanon and how certain political parties, specifically in South Lebanon, are covering those operations.

BEIRUT — At the age of 13, Marwan learned to hide the little colourful pills in his socks as he strode past his supervisors at school. Two years later, he is a go-to man for ecstasy in the Lebanese capital.

“The money’s not that important,” Marwan explains. “It’s the halo of power, plus sometimes it guarantees sex with the girls who are asking for the pills.”

“After raves and events hosted by major DJs appeared on the Lebanese scene five years ago, each pill would sell for 20,000 pounds (13 dollars, 10.8 euros) on a regular day and double the price at a rave,” he told AFP.

“I don’t worry about getting arrested. If I do, I know my dad will bail me out.”

According to experts, 400 tablets of ecstasy were confiscated in 2008 compared to 17,312 tablets in 2009. [Article from AFP]